


Clarity

by CherryRedBomb



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Canon Universe, Drabble, Gen, M/M, but I don't really picture this at any particular time, but a love realization, castiel's grace is weak, except before s15, not a love confession, semi-inspired by tonight's episode, vaguely canon compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-25 05:13:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21690751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CherryRedBomb/pseuds/CherryRedBomb
Summary: It happens during a hunt, of course. That’s when all his clearest realizations are made.
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 8
Kudos: 24





	Clarity

**Author's Note:**

> This was semi-inspired by tonight's episode (s15e07). Dean always seems to understand himself best in the middle of a fight, I feel. Or maybe it's that it's a moment where his emotional and mental barriers are let down a bit as he focuses on physically defending himself? Idk, these are just some thoughts, but yay for these idiots in love falling in love and realizing they're in love in a million different ways, yeah?

It happens during a hunt, of course. That’s when all his clearest realizations are made. 

The hunt isn’t even something major. They aren’t dealing with angels or demons. It’s a goddamn vamp nest, for chrissake. Something any of them could probably handle solo at this point --ah, but there was Sam’s buddy-buddy system. So Cas came along. Of course. 

And when they’d driven all night and Dean had knocked out on the motel bed without eating dinner, he’d woken up a couple hours later to the smell of burgers and pie sitting on the dingy motel table. Cas calmly double-checking the lore against the news story that brought them there.

The next morning, they’d set out for the station and Cas had laid out a fake badge for Dean, apparently taking it upon himself to decide their identities for the day. He’d had himself a little chuckle when he read the name _Alan Whitman_ , but damn near choked when he later heard Cas introduce himself as _Special Agent Clarence Worley_. I mean, sure he’d made the badges, but give a man a heads-up, right? It was only the years of practice that kept him from breaking face in that moment. 

Now, they’ve saved the girl, sent her running out to the safety of the Impala. They were able to confirm it was only five of them, a small nest, and it’s three down, two to go and it was going well, but now Dean’s on the ground and there are fangs coming at his neck. 

He manages to flip them, gets the grungy looking man pinned and brings the machete down so hard it gets lodged in the hardwood floor. 

Immediately, his eyes are up and scanning for Cas. He catches sight of him wrestling with the last one down the hall and is on his feet in a flash, but before he can open his mouth to call out, he’s eye-witness to Cas pulling what must be some goddamn angel garrison spin move and the vamp’s head flies off, bouncing and rolling down the hall to land at Dean’s feet. 

Dean stares at it a moment. Then he looks up at Cas to see his chest heaving, his own machete flashing in the dim light. His face is shadowed in this dark as all hell house. When his blue eyes flicker like embers burning low, Dean watches as there’s a glow around his torso and Cas pulls a crooked dagger out, before dropping it to the floor. 

Oh. 

And Dean is worried about his dwindling grace, worried about his injuries taking more out of him. He wants to tell him how he noticed there wasn’t the usual blinding flash of those eyes as Cas just healed himself. He thinks that maybe he wants to say something else too. 

Instead of voicing any of that, Dean tries to crack a joke. 

“Just like old times, yeah?”

It gets a smile out of Cas, small but sincere and entirely at odds with the gore and viscera splattered across his face and clothing. 

“Yes,” he says, “yes, I suppose it is.” 

_Oh_. 

And Cas walks past him, leaving the violent scene behind and leaving Dean to wonder why does it seem like all his realizations, all his clarity, has to come to him with blood on his face and a knife in his hand. 

It happened during a hunt, of course.

It wouldn’t make sense for Dean to realize he’d fallen in love with Cas in any other way, would it? 

  
  
  



End file.
